It's perfect. It's amazing. It really is as if they took the game and put it on a stage.

Of course, you all knew I was going to say it's amazing, didn't you. :)

The play opens with "just another day at home for Phoenix". Tomu types on her laptop and turns away a persistent news reporter (Aa-chan). Dai-chan comes over, ostensibly to visit Tomu but actually to see that cute girl Maya Fey (Re-re), who isn't there. But pretty soon Re-re does come home and goes off to get ready for her play date with Tomu. A jealous Dai-chan follows her. Tomu sits down to read the newspaper and watch Rabi-chan the news reporter. She is wearing O-Hana's white and black polka-dotted outfit from NSG.

Rabi-chan reports the murder of a senator, the prime suspect being Masami. Game music starts to play. Tomu jumps up, grabs her coat and dashes off, leaving Re-re stranded in her inner tube and flippers.

Scene in front of the curtain with atmospheric cell bars. Masami is cold and emotionless. She gives not a drop of warmth to Tomu for coming to see her or eventually volunteering to take her case. She only calls Tomu an idiot and insists that she is guilty.

But Tomu is determined. Game music starts to play. Tomu begins to sing slowly over it. Soon enough it picks up, changes tone and becomes the theme song, "Yomigaeru Shinjitsu". I love it so much already. This then turns into the opening dance sequence. Tomu, Masami, Eriko, Mii-chan, Dai-chan, Susshii-san, Aoi-san, Chiyako, Seiko and Re-re come out in their character costumes and dance (yes, the judge dances XDD). The rest of the babies are in these weird, minimalistic undead bird costumes... OH NO WAIT, I GET IT, THEY'RE PHOENIX COSTUMES. Only black. >.>;;; They make me realize how skinny Ouka, Kohmai and Riku are.

ANYWAY. The end of the prologue dance is exactly like an anime opening sequence. Only live action. There's a screen, and you see Tomu talking and shuffling papers and doing lawyery things, then the picture freezes and PHOENIX WRIGHT is displayed across the bottom. Same thing for Eriko, and then Masami. After the main three characters, the other original game characters (Mii-chan, Dai-chan, Aoi-san, Re-re) plus Seiko (Masami's sister) make their way onto the screen. An ocean appears in the background. The eight of them stand in a line, joking and laughing or otherwise being in character; Dai-chan "splashes" Re-re, and Re-re splashes back. I don't know how else to explain it; they do that きめポーズ thing.

(Now I understand why Tomu was saying it would be hard to watch the stage and screen at the same time. The real people were dancing underneath, but the screen was so distracting!!)

Tomu reminisces back to a time when Masami wasn't an ice queen. Back when they were still in college in California. As a younger Tomu confesses her feelings to Masami, baby couples are being lovey-dovey behind them. These couples are Riku x Kuu-chan, Tonika x Mayu, Monchi x Aa-chan and Fuuma x Maria. Very hard to watch Tomu and Masami and Monchi at the same time.

The city is in an uproar! Babies have cameras and boom mikes and notepads and pencils! Kyanon and Tonika sing short solos! Naturally, they're all reporters who want to hear from Governor Susshii-san, who feels the need to apologize for being connected to the woman who murdered a senator. Coincidentally, Susshii-san is running for president! No further questions. Susshii-san leaves and her secretary Ebi-chan makes sure the reporters don't follow them.

Tomu and Re-re investigate the scene of the crime. Neo and Mappuu and Monchi are dusting for fingerprints and such. I LOVE THEM. There to keep any trespassers away from the crime scene is Mii-chan, the self-proclaimed famous detective Dick Gumshoe. She has a loose tie, a red pencil behind her ear, a band-aid on her forehead and VERY spiky dark hair. She trips all over the place. She ends all of her sentences in "ssu". In other words, she is a completely lovable dork.

And she tells Tomu and Re-re that the lawyer for the prosecution is MILES EDGEWORTH.

Eriko sings her theme song. It's mostly about being cool and doing whatever it takes to get a guilty verdict and "lu lu". The refrain goes "lu lu" a lot. XDD;;

The end of the song finds us in the courtroom. Kohmai and Tonika are the bailiffs. Mappuu the juror has glasses. <3 Monchi the juror rests her folded hands on the bench cutely seriously.

Mii-chan gives testimony. She's so excited. This is her big moment. She practiced her witness statement many times and was possibly coached by Eriko. It was hard to follow, but Tomu finds a hole in it somewhere. Mii-chan leaves in shame.

Aoi-san gives testimony. She has a blonde afro and pins on her headband. She speaks in Kansai-ben. She gets snappy with Eriko and slams her desk. In other words, she is totally awesome. Tomu finds discrepancies in the photos she took. She turns the trial around. They are given time to find more evidence.

Tomu goes to visit Governor Susshii-san. Susshii-san doesn't tell her much before being called away for a phone call. Alone in the governor's office, Tomu tests out the comfy chair and fiddles with things on the desk. X3 The last thing she picks up is a funny-looking knife, which she nervously pockets when Ebi-chan comes back in with her coffee. Tomu also knocks over a stack of books on the desk and when she and Ebi-chan go to put them back, Tomu notices a photograph and asks Ebi-chan about it. The four people in the picture are Susshii-san, Ebi-chan, Sattsun (the murdered senator, Robert) and Riku (Robert's brother Louis, a policeman). Ebi-chan tells Tomu that Louis was murdered two years ago in the famous Jack Ryan Incident. Tomu pockets the photograph as well.

She tells Re-re what she's learned, and they find it suspicious that two brothers were both killed. Once again Tomu is fired up to find the truth of this case. Everyone comes out for a reprise of "Yomigaeru Shinjitsu". End Act I.

Begin Act II, back at the Wright house. Tomu tells Re-re that she, Masami, Eriko and Dai-chan all used to be classmates. One day, an envelope full of lunch money was stolen from the teacher's desk. Tomu had been absent that day, so everyone blamed her and started a mock trial. Tomu was overwhelmed and intended to apologize for a crime she didn't commit when little Eriko stood up for her. This is the part where they have an "animation" up on the screen, only it's not really animation -- just still drawings depicting the events. Tomu, Masami and Eriko voice their child selves. It is ADORABLE.

Speaking of the devil, Eriko comes a-calling. Re-re cries out "the enemyyyyyy~~!!!" and hides behind Tomu. Tomu sends her off to get them coffee. Eriko tries to convince Tomu to give up her pointless search and stop being ruled by her emotions. Tomu has unshakable faith in Masami's innocence. Re-re comes back with the coffee, which Eriko refuses, saying "it's probably poisoned".

"Damn, you got me," says Re-re.

Eriko leaves. Dai-chan enters. Tomu leaves. Dai-chan realizes she's alone with Re-re. "This is my chance!" X3 She tries to explain to Re-re about the feelings between men and women. Re-re plays along briefly and then turns her down flat. She changes the subject and asks Dai-chan about when all of them were little. (She also tricks Dai-chan into drinking the coffee, resulting in a very funny face. XP) Dai-chan retells the story of the stolen money, and we change to some kind of flashback dance with Tomu and Masami. No wait, this was the part where Tomu thinks back on when Masami broke up with her. Just a short phone call: "I'm sorry. I can't meet you anymore. I'm sorry." Cue a dramatic dance where Tomu and Masami are forced apart by dancers in black (not the bird costumes).

Dai-chan and Re-re wrap up the scene when Re-re realizes that back in elementary school it was Dai-chan who actually stole the money, and chases her out of the house. ;D

Tomu visits Masami in jail again and asks her about the Jack Ryan Incident. Masami can't completely mask her surprise but refuses to admit to any knowledge about the incident. Tomu, however, has photographic evidence to prove that she was there, studying the case while still in law school. Masami still refuses to tell Tomu anything.

Mulling over things back at home, Tomu gets another visitor: Seiko, Masami's sister. She's a doctor who always carries her tools with her just in case. Seiko begs Tomu to save her sister, and it turns out that she was also involved in the Jack Ryan Incident. She gives Tomu information that inspires Tomu to re-enter the courtroom.

Cue a 40-minute trial scene. (Okay, I don't know exactly how long it was, but seriously it was LONG.) Instead of enumerating the facts as they come to light in the play, it's best to just cut to the chase.

~*~ Teh Spoilery Stuffs ~*~

Two years ago, the criminal Jack Ryan (Neo) was on the loose in a courthouse. Seiko was in a private room waiting for her sister to come meet her. Neo entered the room, attacked her and rendered her unconscious. Susshii-san came into the room, saw Seiko in danger and went after Neo. In the ensuing scuffle Neo was stabbed dead. Moments later, Riku the policeman came in, probably looking for Neo. In order to cover up her accidental crime, Susshii-san stabbed Riku as well, then tampered with the scene to make it look as though Seiko had committed the murders. When Masami came to meet up with her sister, Susshii-san convinced Masami that Seiko was guilty of a terrible crime and it was up to Masami to save her. They changed the scene to make it look as though Neo had killed Riku and then killed herself, removing any evidence that Seiko had been in the room.

In the present day, Riku's brother Sattsun admitted to Susshii-san that the facts of the incident had never felt right to her and asked for Susshii-san's help in finding the truth. Afraid that another investigation would bring to light what had actually happened, Susshii-san had no choice but to kill Sattsun. She then reminded Masami of her pledge to protect her sister and left her to dispose of the body. In doing this Masami was caught by Aoi-san's camera, and she resigned herself to going to prison in order to keep her sister's secret.

In a lot of the trial bits there are plenty of 'objection's and 'wait a minute's from Tomu and Eriko, which is to be expected, but Masami butts in a lot too. Of course she's a lawyer as well and knows the rules of the courtroom, but Tomu and the judge have to remind her that in this case she's the defendant and not entitled to argue. ^^;;; At one point, though, when she's still desperate to cover everything up Masami moves to fire Tomu as her lawyer and end the trial by loudly proclaiming her guilt. All hope seems to be lost for Tomu and Chiyako is about to pass judgment when Eriko calls out "wait a minute!" again. Eriko is the one who insists that the trial is not over; facts are still being hidden; the truth has not been brought to light yet.

In other words, Eriko saves the day again. :D

In the end everyone is sorely disappointed in their governor, a person whom they thought stood for justice and the people and would have made a great president. Susshii-san apologizes for disappointing them and goes off to pay for her crimes.

Mii-chan and Dai-chan conveniently reappear to congratulate everyone, and Aoi-san insists on taking a commemorative photo. "But you're not allowed to take pictures in a courtroom!" someone objects. "It's okay," Aoi-san says. "As long as we have this froofy guy here *points to Eriko*, he'll cover for us."

After that the courtroom empties until it's just Tomu and Eriko. Eriko thanks Tomu for reviving inside of her some faith in humanity; the ability to believe in people again. "It's a nostalgic feeling... This mysterious scent..."

"...Edgeworth, why can't you talk like a normal person?"

"...I'm not good at it. I've forgotten how to."

Although Masami is not guilty of any murders, she still helped tamper with evidence. Thus she still has to go to jail for a while. Eriko pulls some strings and gets Masami five minutes to talk to Tomu before they take her away again.

Masami admits to Tomu how painful it was to be cold to her when Tomu was so desperately fighting to prove her innocence. Tomu assures Masami that she's never changed. "Come back to me," she says with open arms.

Masami hesitates for a moment and then throws herself onto Tomu. Tomu greets her with a light touch at first, then hugs her tightly.

"I'll wait for you," she says.

I cried. ;__________;

They sing a reprise of the love song, first apart and then together. I can't remember if the play ended with the love song or the theme song.

~*~ End Spoilery Stuffs ~*~

The end revue had three numbers. First, Eriko in a black suit and a red shirt, surrounded by musumeyaku in those dresses with the black tops the red skirts that show up in everything. She reprised a little bit of the Edgeworth song and then they danced. Next, the rest of the otokoyaku showed up in black suits and blue shirts, and eventually Tomu took the center in a white suit with black patterns on the jacket and random bits of yellow. (I would have liked it except for the yellow. >.>;;;) After the otokoyaku dance, the two youngest babies helped Tomu change jackets -- this time she got a long, flowy light blue one. Masami came back wearing a flowy light blue dress, and the stage filled with fog.

I cried so hard. They were so good together. They need to be tops. I don't know what I'll do if they're not. Seriously. They were beautiful.

In the final bows, Riku, Neo and Sattsun wore the costumes for the characters they had represented only in photos during the play. I thought it was a nice touch.

God, I wrote all that and didn't even talk about the effects. The constant use of screens and photographs. Every time they picked up a piece of evidence, it was just like in the game -- they showed a picture of the object on a screen and used the same sound effect. (At one point they even did it for an object which never became evidence; a heavy lamp that Tomu picked up on Susshii-san's desk.) They used so much of the same music and sound effects for the trial scenes.

And voiceovers. A voiceover of Tomu introducing herself, and lots of short inner monologues and reminiscences. Voiceovers as Tomu introduces Dai-chan and Re-re to the audience. A voiceover as Dai-chan goes for her "chance" with Re-re.

Tomu and Eriko really did closely study the movements of their characters. The way Tomu slammed the desk with two hands, the way she pointed, the way Eriko tapped her finger... The way Mii-chan scratched her head all the time, for that matter...

Oh, and did I mention Dai-chan's hair? Gelled straight up like an enormous cowlick? Fortunately Tomu and Dai-chan fixed their hair for the end revue, and probably Mii-chan did too, but for the play their hair was all ridiculous. <3

In conclusion, any gamer who isn't satisfied with this play is just being petty about hair colors and stupid badges. What I saw in this stage was a very faithful rendition, a heartfelt tribute to the game. I was very impressed with how much they did to link the two together.

I want to say so much more. Mostly I just want to see it again, and again, and again.

Okay, I'm half afraid to ask how long it took you to dictate that out X_X Thank you so, so, so much for doing this, though! <3 <3 This comment might get a bit long X_X

<3 It's probably a good thing that I'd forgotten you were seeing the show today else I'd have been bothering you for details right away XD Which is bad for Julie wrists <3

Of course, you all knew I was going to say it's amazing, didn't you. :)Of course.... but you have to humor us ^_~

They make me realize how skinny Ouka, Kohmai and Riku are.*starts a feed the babies campaign*

Opening description here*is ridiculously excited to seeeeeeeee*

The city is in an uproar! Babies have cameras and boom mikes and notepads and pencils! Oh no! We must NEVER give babies cameras and mics and notepads and pencils! Next thing you know, they'll be taking over the world!

And even more about how much you understood. Maybe it's cause I never played the game, but I think this whole who killed whom why and how would have totally gone over my head at the first time... o__O;I really really can't wait to see this since it seems like Dai-chan has gotten a good bit of stage time (and Riku!! <333 and Monchi! <3) And even though I am still not really a huge Tomu fan, I also hope that it will be her and Masami as the new tops! ;_;

*grumble* Soragumi may be getting to me. There is no Kiriyan or Micchan, but I still really want to see this show. (Then again, I think I also said that about Wasure Yuki, so maybe I'm still safe XD)

Originally you had thought that Mii-chan's role would be bigger than Dai-chan's, but it sounds like they're about equal?

The style of the opening sequence reminds me a lot of El Halcon.

Naturally, they're all reporters who want to hear from Governor Susshii-san, who feels the need to apologize for being connected to the woman who murdered a senator. Coincidentally, Susshii-san is running for president!

Finally, a candidate we can all get behind! ...Except in this sort of plot, she's obviously going to be dirty. Darn.

Mii-chan gives testimony. She's so excited. This is her big moment. She practiced her witness statement many times and was possibly coached by Eriko. It was hard to follow, but Tomu finds a hole in it somewhere. Mii-chan leaves in shame. SO MUCH LOVE. MII-CHAN, PLEASE NEVER STOP BEING DORKY.

Masami hesitates for a moment and then throws herself onto Tomu. Tomu greets her with a light touch at first, then hugs her tightly.

Aww, yay, mostly happy ending <333

Do you think I'd still enjoy this show if I haven't played the game? I want to play the game, but unfortunately I can't save for a DS and Zuka DVDs at the same time -_-;

And how would you rate Masami's role? From your description it sounds somewhat more interesting than the typical musumeyaku role. I'm with you in hoping that Masami, (aka a mature, talented musumeyaku), becomes top.

I... I can't believe how awesome this sounds. I wish so much that I could see this live!! It sounds so amazing~!! Especially how closely it resembles the game - I mean, I could see them turning this into another game in the series. I haven't even seen it and I'm already so proud of what's been done!!! XD

So many things in the dialogue and the plot and *everything* that made me squee extremely loud <333 Oh, so much love <333

Sorry for the very belated reply, but I hope you don't mind if I friend this journal. This particular show has managed to pull me headfirst back into (gleeful giddy) Zuka love, soragumi in particular-- so I've found myself reading all your review and news and such. Thank you for sharing so much information! (Oh, for the days when I still had family living in Osaka, alas.)